Kingdom Killed II: Homecoming
by Locke Lynx
Summary: Two months since the events at Honnoji, conflict has erupted on multiple worlds. Strange reports of fighting in orbit then soon after leaving. Now the Keblade wielders are called to investigate these incidents, and its all hands on deck. Meanwhile, Ryuko struggles to fully grasp her new title, and the weapon that Sora deemed her worthy of... (Inspired by 99-cells)
1. Prologue

_**Author's Notes: Welcome readers! This will be my first ever story I have done, one of many I hope. As you probably know, the original fic is by author 99-cells. I have collaborated with him/her and they were okay with me making a continuation.**_

 _ **If you're just starting out with this, I HIGHLY recommend that you read the first "Kingdom Killed" by 99-cells or would will be lost.**_

 ** _Now, onward!_**

 _Kingdom Hearts © Square Enix, Tetsuya Nomura_

 _Kill la Kill © Hiroyuki Imaishi, Kazuki Nakashima, and Gainax/Trigger_

 _Inspired by the Original Fanfiction by 99-cells_

* * *

Prologue

 **[Location: Open Space. / Time: 2 Months after the death of Ragyo Kiryuin (2:53 P.M.)]**

On the far reaches of known space, one could say that its vastness brings wonders and beauty, and that are almost unfathomable. One can't help but wonder what other forms of life exist out there. However, it also can hides dark secrets, some of which have lain dormant, waiting to be unleashed.

Such secrets like the never ending conflict between the forces of light and dark. Or the struggle between creation and destruction, life and death, and good versus evil.

Many ask, what is considered good and evil? Too much of one can prove dangerous, for an equilibrium must exist. A middle ground if you will, a place where neither side has any influence.

How does this tie to the previous question? It comes down to one's perception of the situation, one must be unbiased when observing and understanding what lies before them. They must look at all the facts and never discard a single detail, for the smallest one may prove to be the most crucial.

That being said, can one truly justify their actions and the reasonings behind them?

If only it were so…

The calm moment in space was soon disturbed as a collection of ships suddenly materialized from seemingly nowhere, forming a rather unique triangular formation, each of their design and architecture. But what was most interesting about these ships, was that their designs gave no hints that their construction used Gummi Blocks. Something else that was noteworthy was that these weren't your everyday transports. They were warships, armed to the teeth from bow to stern with a wide arsenal of weapons and countermeasures, immense durability, and are brutal in naval combat.

The leading starship was covered with silver/chrome colored armor. Its design looked as though the two larger circular pieces on its sides were separated, when in reality they were anchored by levitation. The illusion made with a mid-sized hanger in the midsection that cut through the ship. The bow was relatively long compared to the rest of the ship, and it was slightly angled downwards at the top of the deck, in a shape almost like a sword. The stern was roughly a third of the bow's length designed with two reversed "fins" at the bottom with the bridge being built on top of an aircraft bay which lead to a runway. It had multiple gun batteries and what appeared to be missile pods scattered all across the hull, above below and broadsides, powered by advanced engines that were not found in any record. On the side of the hull outlined in blue bold highlighted etters: " _ **RETRIBUTION**_ " as it and the ships behind it passed through the debris field unscathed as the rocks bounced off the armor, yet leaving no marks on it.

Behind were two identical triangular ships with the appearance of a knight's shield with its own hanger running directly along the bow covered by massive red blast doors. Armed with several deck guns, a dual tower bridge system and powered by 8 engines. The ship on the left was designated: _ **Venator-"ARBITRARY"**_ , while the ship on the right was: _ **Venator-**_ " _ **PRESERVER"**_.

Following up behind them, two distinctively box-like ships with steel coloration, one resembling the shape of a rifle straight out of science fiction with a lower hangar bay with the appearance of a fin with twin Fusion Engines on both sides and a large front mounted cannon. Alongside it were two "arms" that went along the forward mounted cannon, each having 7 Point-Defense turrest and numerous missike pods. On the port side of the hull in white bold letters: _ **FFG-380 'PARIS'-Class "SARATOGA"**_.

The other had with two front mounted cannons at the bow. Near the stern were massive black angular warship with a more arrowhead shaped design with heavy armor plating ranging at four hundred and eighty five meters from stern to bow. Armed with point defense turrets housing two individual guns, numerous pods containing missiles, and two massive protrusions sticking out at front with one stacked up on the other. Four 'fins' were located at the back of the ship possibly for stability, a structure sticking out of the dorsal section of the ship which was the bridge, but the most obvious feature was that from the bow to mid-section on both sides was these two utterly massive sloped plates of metal supposedly to act as heavy armor and on each of those plates were letters written out also in bold white: _ **DDH-535 'HALBERD'-Class "SENTINEL"**_.

The last vessel was rather long yet round and bulbous, and perhaps the most exotic of the group. The 'neck' was elevated from the body of the ship and extended towards the front forming the bow, while four fins protruded out underneath the ship. Armed with two Energy Projectors, along with numerous Plasma and Pulse Laser turrets, this ship's name was not etched into the side of the hulk like the smaller UNSC ships. But everyone in the group knew the name as: _**Covenant Heavy Cruiser-ORS "PROCLAIMED JUSTICE"**_.

On board the _**RETRIBUTION**_ bridge, a male figure was standing at the front with his arms crossed and his eyes closed as if he were attempting to hear something, his mind focused as he stood in front of a large console table. He had medium dark hair resembling a military, though the length of it was deemed questionable. He had black markings or rather stripes under his eyes that almost looked like check marks and a small but distinctive scar over his left eye.

What really stood was that he had the attributes of a humanoid lynx, as he had brown fur, silver chest fur and large ears that were tipped with black. He was indeed a lynx though to be precise, he was a Mobian lynx. The oddest thing though was that he had a long tail similar to a snow leopard with black stripes running down rather than a short tail that lynxes normally have.

He wore a pair of tailored gunmetal gray combat gloves with cuffs at the end around his wrist. He also special friction-resistant combat shoes that like the gloves, had cuffs at the ends around his ankles. He had a magnetic holster strapped to his left thigh, while he had an adjustable strap that went around his right shoulder and over his chest, wrapping around him like a belt.

His ears perked as the console in front of him lit up, a small avatar flashed into existence. Said avatar was also a Mobian lynx, though the figures' appearance suggested the gender was female. She wore a shoulderless and sleeveless, purple dress with split tails with black pants underneath, along with white and black gloves and shoes. Her eyes opened to reveal emerald green eyes, her expression soft and kind, but had a hint of profession to it, as a ghost of a smile appeared on her face.

 _/"Am I interrupting you tranquil moment Locke? I can always report later if you wish,"_ / she asked genuinely, along with a small hint of playfulness in her voice.

The individual now identified as Locke, opened his eyes revealing to be a striking brown, his expression calm, yet held authority. The faintest smirk could be seen as he uncrossed his arms and leaned forward on the table, his eyes focused on the construct before him.

"That won't be necessary NICOLE. I would say I've had enough time thinking to myself. What new information do you have as of now?"

The AI identified as NICOLE closed her eyes and raises her right hand and summons a small blue sphere before expanding it, turning into a large star map, with their location being at the center of the map.

 _/"We've arrived at the last reported site of the enemy fleet and have already initiated long-range scans for any traces of it via energy trails."/_

"What of the debris field in our current vicinity?"

 _/"Unknown. They're not pieces of Latch's ship I can assure you. They seem natural in formation, but not enough mass to be a planet. I can't seem to cross it with any other material we've come across previously. What's more is that one of the pieces is giving off a strange reading, indicating that there may be something imbedded within the fragment."/_

Locke leaned up from his position and proceeded away from the table and towards the observation window, his face returned to its neutral state as NICOLE continued.

 _/"Should I prepare retrieval probes and have it examined?"/_

"No. Our first priority is to locate the Dark Harvesters and stop Latch's efforts. Iif the debris out there is giving a strong reading and you are not able to recognize it, I will not run the risk of possibly contaminating the crew and our family."

 _/"I detect no radiation coming from the object. The nature of it however is what I can't read."/_

"All the more reason to leave it alone. If there's the smallest chance of uncertainty, I won't risk anyone here because we found something we don't know about."

NICOLE nodded her head in acknowledgement. All the while, she couldn't help but notice he seemed a bit tense while looking out into space. Concerned for him, she called out to him.

 _/"Locke, are you...okay?_ _Do you want me to-."/_

"I'm alright for the most part, thank you. As much I would like to take a moment with you, we must stay on task. I promise to have some time later on."

NICOLE's eyes widened at his word and felt the speed of her code accelerate, resulting in her cheeks to turn a small shade of red. She smiled at him and though his back was turned, she could see him glance back at her with his own smile.

"I know this would ruin the moment for us, but can you predict where the Dark Harvesters could be currently?"

The shade of red on her have diminished, but her smile still remained. Shifting back into her 'professional' persona, she readjusted the map and zoomed out their current location, revealing a massive web of interconnected worlds and realms, some of them registering with a green color while the rest remained gray.

 _/"Given that the Dark Harvesters are not here presently, it stands to reason that Latch and his fleet have made another jump through the Dimensional Nexus. Since there's nothing coming through of an energy trail, our next bet would be direction based on nearby worlds. The trajectories of where his ships could traveled is still being determined."/_

"I surmise Latch has resumed his search for other potential target-systems, specifically ones that are out of range of our eyes and ears while providing the resources he needs. Keeping a low profile while obtaining what he requires before moving on. He's already tried to hit Cybertron, Haulland, the VR world of Aincrad, then Giga City."

 _/"Not to mention the worlds of Christophis, Geonosis, Meridian, and the Traveler's Earth."/_

"Are there any worlds nearby that would be ideal for Latch?"

 _/"AbrXs and I are already looking into it. So far there are no worlds in our immediate proximity. We did find a few worlds to us aren't too far from us through normal transition, one of them is comprised mostly of ocean water and a collection of islands. Another world was found a minute ago resembling Earth farther out in that same direction."/_

"Anything else about them?"

/" _Nothing concrete._ _"/_

She zoomed back out and highlighted four worlds that were located with their fleet being at the center. The appearance and distance was as she said; the time it would take to get to one of them through normal space would be over an hour before in visual range. The surface of the world mostly consisted of ocean water along with a cluster of islands and mid-sized landmasses.

"Keep scanning these world for any sign of Latch or the rest of the Dark Harvesters setting up a base there. I do not want to leave anything to chance while we're presently here."

 _/"Perhaps it is why Latch took this action to throw us off and have us be unable to predict his next movement, considering by what he's done in the past and the lack of any nearby worlds and installations."/_

Before Locke could reply, the ship suddenly rocked without warning and Locke was thrown off balance and resorted to the table to stabilize himself. NICOLE's avatar flickered as she too lost balance for a brief moment. Alarms screaming all across the ship, red warning lights pulsing in rythme with the alarm.

"NICOLE, what was that?!"

 _/"We have incoming ships! Designation confirmed, it's the Dark Harvesters!"_

Suddenly the space around was filled in a blaze of fire and explosions. As the blast cleared, a second group of ships could easily be seen exchanging barrages of projectiles of all kinds and sending groups of missiles at each other fully intent on destroying the other.

Acting quickly, Locke input a series of commands into the console before speaking loudly into it.

"All callsigns engage! This not a drill, I repeat, this NOT a drill! Companies Alpha through Gamma, proceed to your aircraft and engage enemy fighters! NICOLE, target the fleet and lock on the capital ship, use the C.D.A.C. if you have to! Collective Company, I need you all on deck to defend against enemy air units and repel boarders if needed! Have Energy Lines secured and work in pairs!"

 _/"Understood!"/_

As Locke finished calling out his orders, her looked up and saw the new arrivals, their lead vessel being the largest in ash colored plating, the bridge emitting an eerie green color from the windows. Standing there a sfigure stood in front of it, watching the carnage ensue.

"Latch, I don't what you're thinking now, but I won't let you escape this time, not ever again!"

He quickly turned around and sprinted down the hall, fully intended to fight alongside those he commanded as many leaders should.

What went unnoticed to all is that some of the debris they displaced started to seemingly drift away into deep space, unaware of the mysterious glowing fragment within it…

 _ **KINGDOM KILLED II: HOMECOMING**_

 _ **Ending AN: There you have it ladies and gentlemen.**_

 _ **I know that ending it on a cliffhanger may not best way to finish my first chapter, but hey gotta save the rest for another time!**_

 _ **Who are these collection of fleets? What exactly are the Dark Harvesters and what is their Endgame? More to come, soon...**_

 _ **Extra: Can any of you guess the worlds/Franchises I've mentioned? Be sure to pay close attention, as you might find one of them being visited.**_


	2. Chapter 1: Reminiscing Part 1

_**A/N: Alright, not exactly as soon as I thought I'm sorry about that. This may have been a bad time to publish this since next week is College Finals, but hey I've been wanting to do this for a long time so I'm gonna stay the course. Took me a bit to get how I wanted this to go, but here it is!**_

 _ **To 99-cells: That fragment you're referring to, I will say it is of Kingdom Hearts lore, and it appears in one of the games. That's all I will say...**_

 _ **That being said and done, ONWARD!**_

Chapter 1: Reminiscing, Part 1

 **[Location: Destiny Island, Main Beach; Time: 5:13 P.M.]**

Destiny Islands, a tropical haven that rewards relaxation and joy to those who come, either natives or travelers. For a certain Keybearer (now master, this was his much R&R after the intense experience he had no too long ago. Across the vastness of space, there have only few small outbreaks of heartless here and there on other fronts, but nothing that warranted his presence. The action seemed to have died down for the most part. Two months since the Keyblade bearer rectified the rising darkness apprenticed by the great evil they defeated nearly a year ago, two months since he last saw his newest friends in Japan all together, along with the sisters...

Out on the beach resting on his back, Sora lies by himself on the soft sand relaxing, his eyes closed listening to the sound the ocean waves rush up to shore, just missing his shoes with the sun setting beautifully on the horizon. But while his posture suggests that he's at ease, his mind was elsewhere, contemplating. Remembering back to what had transpired five months prior to this moment.

After being called by Master Yen Sid, he was asked to investigate a new world which was teeming with altered Heartless and a new entity of darkness, one which dated even before the majority of most of the existing worlds. His assignment was to find the entity controlling them, and put them out of commission before things got out of hand. Even being the most seasoned among him and his friends, it was no easy task that was done in a day, especially alone. The whole fiasco took him a total of 79 days to complete, roughly two and a half months and he wouldn't have been able to complete it entirely on his own. But that's not to say he would have said no to anyone who wanted to help.

He could easily remember how much of an adventure they all had, he and the natives of Honno-ji Academy. Despite some rather 'lewd' aspects of the world he was on, he wouldn't dream of forgetting all the moments he had there. The fun, laughs, sorrow, reunions, even their goodbyes no matter how hard it would have been. There was no way he could forget their bittersweet goodbyes they shared. Some of them did not want him to leave. Some significantly more than others…

Nonon Jakuzure, Houka Inumuta, Uzu Sanageyama, Ira Gamagoori, the Mankanshoku family, Satsuki Kiryuin, and-

Ryuko Ma- no, _Kiryuin_.

The name alone held enough meaning to affect him, his heart slightly aching at her was this urge, or this tug in his heart. Out of all the people he met there, Ryuko held the biggest piece of his heart, which was matched only by one other. It was his selfless and caring actions that made her eventually fall for him.

It was kind of funny when you look back, the two different personas they had yet were similar in nature. All of that happened during the rollercoaster of an adventure they had together, when all he wanted to was help bring their world back in order from its chaotic state and show her the good in life she needed. In doing so, he single-handedly solved the mystery behind the sister's father, the peace treaty between the paramilitary Nudist Beach and Satsuki's former school combat force AND reunite the two long lost sisters and defeat their genocidal and perverse mother. In the midst of doing so, the relationship between Sora and Ryuko had grown, blooming into something even he wasn't truly prepared for. But when he thought back to those moments with her, it started to make some form of sense, especially when they felt the way they did at his departure. He still remembered their words echo fresh in his mind.

* * *

 **[Flashback…]**

 _Sora walked to her at a very slow pace, she was much further from the others, and both had their heads looking down in a glum state, blocking their eyes in the shadow as he heard a light sobbing coming from Ryuko's direction._

 _"Ryuko…I- we had to do what had to be one…You mother, her crimes-" When all of a sudden, his whole torso was wrapped around what would no doubt be considered the biggest, and most painful, hug he's ever gotten from anyone._

" _I understood that already. It's just… I hate the fact that you have to leave. I know I'm being greedy just like I was when I first arrived at Honno-ji. But please, I don't want you go. Stay with us instead. And…and you know that I wasn't flirting with you back there…I really mean it when I'm saying…I-I-I…"_

* * *

His heart ached with emotion and guilt as he sighed heavily at the memory. It wasn't that he had no affection for Ryuko, he genuinely did. But being in a position between two girls of interest is exactly what he was hoping to avoid. It wouldn't be fair for Kairi; choosing someone you grew up with for years versus someone you were with for almost three months?

Even if he wanted to stay he still had to go back, for more reasons than one he told them. He had stayed with Ryuko and company for nearly three months straight helping to fix the problems they all faced, making friends, even-.

" _Jeez Sora, I can tell you miss her. I know you're conflicted in your feelings for the two of them, but come on,"_ a female voice spoke to him.

Sora merely sighed. "Considering you can read my thoughts among other things, I'm not surprised you pieced that together."

" _I didn't have to. You know that much like Senketsu I can read your feelings like an open book and it was slightly obvious considering your mood."_

Sora remained silent, as he had a feeling his fabric companion wasn't quite finished.

" _On the plus side, at least Kairi took it a LOT better than you hoped. Not only that, she even wants to meet her so ease up,"_ Ryuketsu stated.

"I know she said that, as she and Riku are aware of what happened while I was there. It's just I'm concerned in regards to Ryuko's 'forwardness' for a lack of better term, and I don't mean how she deals with problems," Sora said with concern.

" _Fair point. But again, if Kairi mentioned that she and Riku saw that scene of her 'forwardness' with you and was okay with how you handled it, then I don't see why you have to fret so much."_

Sora mere hummed in response, still contemplating the events that happened. Memories aside, Ryuketsu was pretty much his only physical reminder he had of that world. For the most part anyway.

" _Speaking of forward intentions…"_ Ryuketsu said slyly. " _I'm not the only physical thing you got from that world you got to take from there."_

"Ryuketsu, please don't-"

" _Oh come on, you mean to tell me that you DIDN'T enjoy that brief moment with Ryuko even a little bit are you?"_ She said with a teasing manner.

Sora didn't reply as he remembered that moment with Ryuko during their fight against Ragyo, his with a tint of red on it...

* * *

 **[Flashback…]**

 _Ryuko then raised her hand to try and enter Sora's heart, but she can't seem to get in for some reason. "There's something wrong, Sora. I can't gain access! Your's should be that of light, unless…your Heartless! It must still be lurking inside you and interfering with the process. Maybe I can extract it and siphon it out."_

"And how exactly do you think you can pull my Heartless out?" Sora asked.

It was right there and then Ryuko thought of something that'll redefine Sora's meaning of reckless and said, " Or maybe this kind of X-Blade forging, the kind where the two halves correspond, needs the two participants to be a bit more…gentle," as she then licked her lips.

Sora started to slowly back away in response to this gesture and asked "Wait! What are-!?" But that was all Sora was able to get out before his lips were shut…by Ryuko's own no less! For a girl with a tough attitude and showed little flirtatious affection, her lips were surprisingly soft and-No! Bad mind!

 _Before long, his Keyblade began to revert to its original color and was then glowing and humming a soothing tone. Ryuko began to become slightly transparent as she was slowly making her way into Sora's heart._

"Looks like what Mako said about destiny wasn't as far-fetched as I thought. Just so you know in case we die tonight, I always wanted to do that to you since after you whooped me and made me smell reality of my sister's history…Oh, and your breath taste like mint. " Ryuko stated as she then dissipated into Sora's heart.

* * *

For the most part, Sora's face had a noticeable amount of red across his face, while Ryuketsu could feel his state of being and it amused her to no end.

" _I'm curious now, if she saw you again what's to say she wouldn't go any further than that? After all, she DID say that if you did make it back, she threatened to tear off both our clothes."_ She asked smugly, while suppressing a laugh.

Sora's face blushed even more with the very idea of her doing more than just a kiss and doing more _intimate_ things. He quickly began shaking his head rapidly as if to dispel such 'activities'.

" _What do you think Roxas? You've been quiet this whole time, I wanna hear your input too,"_ The female armor piece said.

" _I don't think I have to say anything, considering Sora's reaction is pretty much how I would if I were in his shoes,"_ the Nobody said before returning to to his silence.

"If you don't keep quiet, I'm gonna wash you with salt water and then leave you to dry on the wire with all the sand." He muttered.

Apparently, the warning seemed to work as Ryuketsu remained silent, but not before chuckling lightly leaving Sora alone in his own thoughts. Although what Ryuketsu said about him and Ryuko, she wasn't exactly off the mark.

" _Seriously though, go and visit if you miss her. There's no harm in doing that, is there? You might as well bring Riku and Kairi with you too."_ Ryuketsu asked before going silent again.

" _Agreed, considering they promised that they'd never let you tackle a mission alone anymore. Visit the nearby cities, explore the shops, take in the views, something!"_ Roxas exclaimed.

"Since when did you become the liaison between me and her?" Sora asked.

But before he received a reply, his senses didn't catch the sound of an approaching figure. "Seems' you're enjoying your time alone here talking amongst yourself," a soft yet cheerful and memorable voice said behind him.

Startled by the new company, Sora's eyes opened quickly as his body jolted upwards regaining his full range of senses before relaxing, realizing who the voice belonged to. Standing before him was one held closest to him since the became friends.

A girl with auburn red hair that was shoulder-length and wore a pink strapless mini-dress made up of three zippers as well as a white halter top underneath her mini-dress with a black hood. She also sports three bracelets on her left wrist, a black belt with a note book shaped bag attachment, and lilac sneakers with black laces. She had a kind, yet playful expression on her face that was matched only with her bright blue eyes and there was only one who fit that description.

Kairi.

"(Sigh) You know I still hate it when you do that. Either my senses are getting duller, or you're just getting better at appearing unexpectedly," he said.

"Probably the latter. Riku's been helping me with some areas I'm having trouble with still. Though I can't help but notice you've still been as lazy as ever," Kairi responded playfully, looking down at Sora as he stood up.

"Keep it up and I'll put a cat bell around your neck, so that way I know exactly where you are," he muttered with a sly grin and a daring expression.

Kairi eyes widened a bit with that statement, then narrowed defiantly her smile never leaving. "I heard that, and that's a pretty bold claim there!"

"Really? What exactly makes you so sure about that, my oh-so-confident princess?"

Kairi paused for a moment, actually considering how to answer his question. Ever since Sora was gone for nearly three months to that one world, he had slightly changed. While neither Riku nor her noticed anything wrong with him, Sora had gotten a bit bolder, if by only a small margin but it was nonetheless noticeable. His confidence and resolve was stronger than ever, but she noticed a more serious and analytical side to him now, but rarely showed it. Ultimately though, he was still the same person before he left who had a heart of gold to which everyone agreed. Guess she could say he just matured a bit after that mission. She was brought out of her thoughts when a waving hand was in front of her.

"Destiny Islands to Kairi, are you still there?"

Rolling her eyes, she gently pushed his hand away from her and looked him. "Yes Sora, I'm read you. And I still think you wouldn't follow through with it."

"And why is that?"

"...because you have too much good in your heart Sora. I've known you for a while and it's not really in your nature."

His smile grew and merely nodded his head before speaking again. "Y'know, Roxas and Ryuketsu have been thinking, and they have an idea."

"Oh really now? What were they suggesting," Kairi asked curiously.

"Well, considering that you still want to meet Ryuko at some point, and it's been two months since I last talked to her."

"Not to mention that Riku and I vowed to never let you go in missions solo anymore," she added playfully, while underlining the seriousness in her statement. After that last S&D mission and the effect it had on Sora, Riku and her weren't kidding when they said he wouldn't tackle any missions solo.

"Right, that too. But anyway they made me think and, do you and Riku want to go see her? I'm planning to go soon. I figured you'd want to see some new places, and I want to bring her here at some point too."

Kairi wasn't surprised in the slightest, but welcomed the idea. She was genuinely okay with Ryuko and Sora, as she felt she could put her faith and trust in her if the odds were against him. Kairi saw her having his back even during the roughest of times, she had no reason not to believe her.

"That sounds like great idea. So when do we leave?"

"Tomorrow. We meet up with Ryuko and her sister, explore the cities for a bit, then bring her over to Destiny Islands."

Just as the two were continuing their planning, the realization hit Sora in regards to some complications with their friendly group-up. "Wait, hold on. We have to check her in with Master Yen Sid,"

Kairi was lost at that, sure Ryuko had never met the man before but it didn't warrant concern for her. He was a kind man offering wisdom and knowledge. So there was no reason to why there would be an issue between her and the Master. Or was there?

"What do you mean? He already knows about Ryuko."

"It's about me giving Ryuko the ability to wield the Keyblade. He's going to want to meet her and examine her skills as well has her personality. If there's a new Keyblade wielder out there, he's gonna want to have them tested and make sure their heart's in the right place." Sora reminded.

 _That_ got her attention. She knew Sora was kind to those cared about, but never once did she expect him to go as far as granting someone with the Keyblade. Thinking about it now though, she couldn't think of anyone else he met that could get that honor.

"Just so you know, just because she knows how to handle a weapon doesn't mean she can handle the Keyblade right away." She stated while placing a hand on her hip.

"No, but that doesn't mean she won't earn quickly. If you and Riku saw my progress from Yen Sid's, then you know that she has a knack for it" Sora smugly countered.

The two stood silently, still smiling at each other and thinking of plans they could do with their soon-to-be new group member. After a minute or so, Kairi turned around and started to head back where she came from.

"Well, we can introduce the two when we get back from her world. We'll let them talk for a bit them go on from there."

Sora smiled and nodded his head at her as Kairi walked away back to the shack, but not before telling Sora one last thing. "With that all being said, I hope you don't mind taking us BOTH on a date, would you," she giggled.

Sora merely nodded to her request, not realizing what he had just agreed to. "Sure I'd-wait WHAT?! Hold on!"

But it was too late, as Kairi had already broken into a run laughing at Sora's reaction. Feeling a little devious himself, he pursued after her fully intent on getting a little payback.

However, both failed to look near the setting sun in the horizon where stars started to appear. If one gazed hard enough, they could faintly make out a small group of twinkling stars close together, unaware of what they **truly** were...

 _ **A/N: There it is folks, the first actual chapter. So while our heroes plan a friendly get-together, they are unaware of the turmoil of what's to come. Next chapter's gonna shift to some old friends of ours. Hope you enjoyed and I see you in the next one!**_


	3. Chapter 2: Reminiscing Part 2

**_A/N: Alright, I'm back! This one took me a bit, but I finally got it to how I wanted it._**

 ** _As you all know, there has been issues with the notification system, so I decided to take down then repose the chapter, sorry about that guys._**

 ** _To 99-cells: Interesting idea, now I have to think about how to design it. As for our beloved trio, it's going to be 'interesting' when they get together…_**

 ** _Without further ado, onward with the story!_**

 ** _I do not own the Kingdom Hearts franchise nor Kill la Kill or the original fanfiction. Those series and fanfiction belong to their respective owners._**

Chapter 2: Reminiscing, Part 2

 **[Location: Radiant Garden, Ansem's Castle. / Time: 2 months following the death of Ragyo Kiryuin (Earlier)]**

Radiant Garden, a world once known as the "city of light" and had played a key role in the previous battles against the Darkness and the Organization. It was once a beautiful city of gardens and fountains, then reduced to ruins when the darkness ravaged it; forcing many of its citizens into exile.

However, in recent events thanks the combined efforts of the citizens and Sora, the survivors reclaimed their world and rebuilt all that they had lost. By the end of the Organization War, Radiant Garden had been fully restored to its previous beauty. It had even undergone several advancements to aid the populous. Behind the castle's foundation was a landing port outfitted with state-of-the-art defenses, with a command tower coordinating traffic. Though not many ships came and went, they still fed information to the key members of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee.

Squall Leonhart, or better known as Leon along with Cid were currently in Merlin's house working away with their own tasks. Cid, along with Tron were busy updating the Claymore Defense System as well as running data analysis. While the two techno mages were doing that, Squall was reading over previous documents that he got from Yuffie earlier, and comparing them to Ansem's notes for any hints or mention of what they were looking for.

Ever since the recent skirmish at Honno City, it was decided to help out the Light Key bearers further. Not only did they let them use Radiant Garden as a Hub, but the now defunct Restoration Committee would start overseeing nearby worlds they've visited while using Ansem's Study/Computer Room as an Intel-gathering center. In addition to that, Leon went back to his true name per his promise that he made.

While he wasn't exactly thrilled at being stuck outside the battlefield, it would be for the best as they would need someone in command who's calm and collected while under pressure. Their job: to make sure that the worlds never have another Xehanort to deal with, especially since the passing of Xehanort's secret apprentice and the world's saved from destruction. After that close-call, everyone made sure to keep their eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. Just because one threat was over it didn't mean their jobs as Guardians was over, or that a new threat was on the horizon.

The door soon opened, causing him to look up from the papers in front of him. Standing in the doorway was Aerith with a mid-sized box in her hands. "I'm back."

Cid stopped his typing and proceeded to rub his eyes staring at the monitor for too long before turning to Aerith. Squall put the papers in his down on the table before walking up to Aerith. "Here, let me get that for you."

He proceeded to take the box from Aerith and set it down on the table. He opened it up and proceeded to remove its contents and set them next to the box. Three sets of drinks, hot disposable bowls, and plastic ware. The three of them grabbed their respective sets and sat down.

"Thank you for doing that. I know for a fact that getting _this_ guy away from his monitor is near impossible, even for a few minutes to stretch." Leon said before taking a sip of his drink, a small smirk plastered on his face,

Cid however, didn't enjoy the small jab and glared at Leon. He opened his bowl and in doing so, released a plume of steam trapped directly in his face. He waved the steam away from him before speaking.

"Well _excuse me_ for keeping busy on keeping the town clear of Heartless from here. But _someone's_ gotta keep the system 'ere in tip-top shape unless you want to back to the old-fashioned way at every wakin' hour! Not that I doubt Tron's management skills, but even he can't monitor the whole system every second all by himself. He ain't exactly as big as the MCP."

He took a moment to stop and down his own beverage before placing the cup back on the table, with the others listening while digging into their bowls of steamy teriyaki beef noodles. "Besides, I know for sure as hell _you_ ain't exactly top-notch computer specialist like yours truly."

Squall merely gave him an unamused look in return. "That doesn't mean I don't know how to use one."

Deciding to ease the two before they kept arguing back and forth, Aerith brought up a familiar moment that was kindly shared. "Do you guys remember, when Sora was using a computer for the first time?"

The two men stopped eating for a moment and thought back to that memory. Sora had just returned after his time 'cold storage' as Cid called it, a small chuckle escaped their lips. As soon as he heard the possibility of answers in Ansem's personal computer, he had no idea how to even operate properly. It was slightly amusing to say the least.

"Yeah, then he and friends ended up in the Space Paranoids Grid and came back out like they came off a roller coaster."

The three natives of the garden laughed at the soft memory of the young Keyblade boy. They all had been through so much before their final victory, and the restoration of balance. Even now, almost a year after the defeat of Master Xehonart and the fall of Organization XIII, they were still, well…

"Just can't get over it, y'know? Been almost a year now since us and those kids put _him_ under. Then six months later, that Ragyo lady pops up. Not only that, but it turns out that she was his apprentice! Makes you wonder what else he kept hidden under wraps," Cid said.

"I'd rather not think about that. And to be honest, I'd feel better off not knowing considering the lengths he went to accomplish his insane goal," from Squall.

"At least Sora managed to make her stay put on her own world for the most part, him and that other gal. He always tight-lipped about that for some reason."

"Well you can't exactly blame him for it; three months away on a world with a dense amount of darkness rivaling Master Xehonarts' without the help from your friends while trying not to get the natives involved as much as possible?"

"I think that the people there would get involved with him either way, as that's just a part of who he is. Always sticking out for others and in turn they're inspired to follow him," Aerith stated, contributing to the conversation more.

That may be, but it still doesn't exactly make it smooth sailing. With the Organization, they were constantly on the move, making it difficult for any real progress when dealing with them."

Leon's' comment wasn't intended to sour their accomplishments, but he wasn't exactly wrong. The time and events they had endured to get that point was not something easy to shrug off. They continued to eat I'm peace, but one can't help but think 'Could have been an easier way?'

Getting sidetracked with second-guessing thoughts, Aerith decided to push right to the subject at hand. "Has there been anything new about those rumors in open space?"

Putting their finished bowls back in the box, Squall and Cid recollected their thoughts. "No, but were hoping we the others will get back to us if they found anything. We're currently waiting for their replies back. The sooner we get more intel, the more we we'll have to work with and plan."

Aerith nodded as she too placed her finished tray in the box and placed it by the door to be dealt with later. "I'm going back to Ansem's Study to see if I can find anything else in his books. I may be a while."

"Thank you Aerith. I'll let you know if anything changes."

She nodded her head at him before closing the door behind her, leaving the two alone again with their priorities. Cid returned to his seat and stretched his back before resuming his work, while Squall continued examining the notes he has.

Recent reports spoke of Heartless outbreaks have been slowly increasing, but it wasn't to the point of overwhelming them, as they were relatively short in terms of time. What _really_ got him was that whenever they did appear, it was after these mysterious warships showed up in high orbit. In other words, their fighting resulted in the attraction of nearby Heartless both in the air and on the ground.

As if that wasn't odd enough, he noticed a pattern that they attacked areas that had something of value to said world. Whatever it was they were after or collecting, it was something they hadn't seen before nor did they know how to properly deal with. One thing was for sure, its use was _not_ intended for the greater good.

To top it all off, rumors popped up about some different version of Heartless aiding them. They bore similar details, but nothing was confirmed as of late. As if they needed any more problems to face, a new kind of foe that they had no information on, as even Ansem's notes were less than useful.

There were just too many questions and not enough answers and it was gnawing at Leon's mind. Who are these groups? They couldn't be from the Organization as there was nothing left of the now late threat. Maybe some form of opposing alliances? Why were they fighting? More importantly, what do they have to do with whatever the Heartless were doing on the surface?

They came close to finding these ship, but whenever they came close to tracking them, they'd miss them and the trail would go cold again. At this rate, the state of the World Order would be the least of their problems. These fleets in combat and the outbreak of both Heartless and this new form of Darkness were related somehow, and he was determined to find the answer.

Suddenly Cid's computer blinked repeatedly with a green phone icon flashing, a single phrase appeared underneath the icon: "Yuffie K."

 _/"Incoming Transmission from the User Ninja Yuffie in Traverse Town. Shall I put it through Cid,"/_ Tron asked.

"By all means, go ahead Tron."

 _/"Confirmed."/_

Along with Cloud and Tifa, Yuffie was sent off to quell the recent Heartless outbreaks as well as investigate the nature of these incidents and their new brothers in arms, in addition to search for any signs of these 'war fleets'. Leon sighed and made his way towards Cid as he clicked on the icon. It then morphed into a rectangular box with a picture of the female ninja on the left and a waveform box on the right. Soon, the chipper ninja's voice came in through the speaker.

"We're here Yuffie, what's up?"

 _/"Hey Squall, just wanted to check in with you guys back at Merlin's. The Heartless running around have been cleared out for the time being, so everything's back to normal in Traverse Town. No luck with those other dark monsters though. Currently in my Gummi ship and makin' my way back now."/_

"Another wild goose chase gone to dust then," Squall sighed exasperated.

 _/"Don't worry, we'll get something about this at some point."/_

"I just hope we're not too late when we do. Safe travels Yuffie, see you soon."

 _/"Ten-Four, Squall. I'll be back in-BLEEP-BLEEP-BLEEP-BLEEP"/_

The sudden alarm on the ninja's ship took the others off guard. Leon pressed concern for his younger companion. "Yuffie, what's going? I hear an alarm going off on your end."

 _/"Hang on a sec...think I got something. Navi-G and Sensor-G's are picking up a strange energy trail and its massive in output. Doesn't match any we usually see in the World Lanes. I think I just picked up or mystery 'war fleets' again."/_

"What direction are they originating from?"

 _/"The computer's telling me that they're, wait a sec…that close?!"/_

"Yuffie, what is it? What did you find?"

Nothing came back at first, worry filling the seasoned Gunblade Wielder. When her voice came through though, dread began to fill his body.

 _/"I-it's in open space, but it's close to Destiny Islands!"/_

Squalls face faltered for a bit, his thought starting to race. They were already that close? How the hell did they manage to get far without anyone stumbling into them? He was brought of his thoughts when he heard Yuffie talk again.

 _/"If they're that close to us and our friends, we gotta make a move now or at least warn the others!"/_

The tone she was familiar with her tone and what she was implying, and he was not thrilled of it. "Yuffie, wait a minute. You're only one ship compared to a fleet regardless of size."

 _/"Exactly, a fleet of ships wouldn't exactly be concerned with a single ship, otherwise they'd have to be_ really _paranoid."/_

"Yuffie come back and regroup with us first. I'm not gonna take any chances of investigating a trail that could lead straight into an ambush," he stated.

 _/"Relax Squall, I'm just gonna see where the trail leads. I know my ship isn't gonna do squat against two warring fleets. But if we can at least identify them and maybe see what they're capable of, we might be able properly plan from there. Besides, you do know who you're talking to right?"/_

He sighed heavily and thought carefully about his options. The whole situation was potentially similar to leading a mouse to either a piece of cheese and a mouse trap [no pun/offense intended]. They had no idea of what could be at the end of that trail, and could spell disaster. On the other hand, they might never get this kind of opportunity to find out who's fighting and how it's related to the increase in Heartless incursions. He was also confident that Yuffie could look after herself.

"Fine just, be careful out there. We still need you back here in one piece,"

 _/"Copy that, and keep the tea hot for me will ya? I'll check back with you to confirm anything."/_

As Cid closes the communication, he hears Leon sigh deeply, anxiety clear in his tone. He turns around and closes his eyes before proceeding to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"Hey don't worry about her, she'll be fine. She's not know solely known for just her skills alone."

"It's not just her that I'm worried about Cid…"

"Should we send word out to Yen Sid and the others?"

Normally he would have said yes immediately, but he hesitated for a moment. While he didn't like the idea of Yuffie dealing with unknown elements on her own, if this gamble actually paid off they could actually learn more about who's commanding these ships and the worlds they represent. With that, they could intervene and seek peace talks between the two alliances. That and lower the spawning rate of Heartless and in doing so reduce casualties.

"Soon, we'll send the word out when Yuffie gets back. I want to give them as much information we have on our third party as we can."

* * *

 **[Location: Open Space, The Ocean Between. / Time: Day 0, 12 minutes later.]**

The space around Traverse Town was bustling with ships coming and going. The massive city world was for people of the nightlife. Whether they came for business or personal reasons, life continued with everyone proceeding with their daily routines. Since its restoration, the world had lost some of its income after the citizens of Radiant Garden had left, but not to the point disaster. It was merely seen as a slight bonus for most businesses, but their ultimate concern was the welfare of their customers as people, not just wallets with munny.

For the Great Ninja Yuffie however, her business on that world had concluded; the Heartless had been dealt with and she was now proceeding with tracking down her newest targets. Dealing with the recent Heartless increase she could handle without breaking a sweat. But when it came to her friends and the fighting taking place on their own doorstep, THAT she didn't take lightly. Not only did she find out where their quarry was, but they turned out to be much closer to their friends than they thought possible. Sure, said world is home to three of the strongest Keyblade users thus far, but that didn't mean she was going to just stand by and do nothing.

Having finalized the coordinates in her ship's navigational computer, she charged up her Warp-G and blasted her engines to full burn. Her ship, the _Yuffie_ was soon surrounded by swirling waves of energy of many colors followed by a bright light engulfing the ship entirely. In an instant, the light vanished along with any trace of the ship that was there.

While traveling down the Warp Lane, her mind was focused. She didn't care about who or what these people were nor what their goals were; you messed with her friends and you pay the price. She began powering up her ships' weapons and countermeasures, readying herself for whatever lies beyond the end of her lane. Cannons, lasers, shields, all sorts of gear her ship was outfitted with, preparing to give these 'guests' a proper welcome when she arrives.

As the light at the end her lane appeared, her ship was soon pulled back into normal space. But as soon as she looked out her cockpit window, it took only one look out her window to realize she may have been a bit over her head.

"Holy. Shit…"

 ** _A/N: Ahhh, the dreaded cliffhanger strikes again! Sorry guys, but I decided to stop it here so that I can have some more to work with for the next chapter. The next one is gonna be a mix of both Yuffie's POV and a few others, so please bear with me. The battles draw ever closer to our heroes' own doorstep, the Darkness falls under a new leadership, and worlds are beginning to align with each side. Will the Keyblade Wielders diffuse the situation before the battles escalate, or will they too be forced to choose sides?_**

 ** _I'm officially out of college, so now I have more time to dedicate to this story. So that's a plus! Hopefully I'll have the next one up soon! I encourage a review for some constructive feedback. Peace!_**


	4. Author's Notice

**_A/N: Hello readers out there. I know some of you have been waiting for the next chapter. Though to be honest, I don't think I can carry this like I had hoped._**

 ** _Yes, I hate to say this but I will be discontinuing this and work on another project, though said project may take a bit of finalizing before I start writing it._**

 ** _Some of you may be asking 'why?', especially while it's still early. Some of you might be indifferent and not really mind, others a bit more upset considering you've been following this for a few months now. To all of you regardless, I say thank you._**

 ** _To be honest, I have had a heck of a two months now being busy with my family dealing with some legal crap someone is trying to pull with my uncle, and he's a Vietnam war veteran, and I've been helping him out whenever possible, 'cause family's important! So my writing schedule is not the best of skills._**

 ** _Another reason I am stopping this is in regards to the project I wanted to work on earlier in this post. Looking at how big I plant for it to be and trying to merge it with an anime of insanity and nudity along with a game series with both Disney and Square Enix characters based off of another writer's fanfiction isn't really working._**

 ** _I read his fanfiction of Kingdom Killed, and greatly enjoyed it. I hoped that someday I could write something that could continue it AND incorporate some of my ideas into it, but it just wasn't working. Too many problems. The feeling of the story wasn't quite what I was hoping for and was turning into something I wasn't fond of. It seemed more forced scenario rather than a decent story with proper establishment of what lead up to this point and that is my fault._**

 ** _With that said, I am going to scrap this story and work on something else that I have more in-depth knowledge of. I am familiar with Kill La Kill and Kingdom Hearts, but trying to merge one writer's idea with mine isn't working and I do NOT want to ruin his/her reputation for my shoddy work._**

 ** _To 99-cells: thank you for letting my work with your awesome piece for as long as I did and I hope to see more from you soon!_**

 ** _To the readers/viewers: thank you for sticking with me up until now. If you have any questions, PM me (NO FLAMES ACCCEPTED PLEASE! I've already had to deal with one unnecessary complainer.)_**


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